Formalistic Approach

“The breath of sparrows,” is a lyric poetry written by Jim Pascual Agustin, the speaker in the
poem laments as he receives the news about Mandela’s death. For him, it’s death was as significant and
as important as the death of his mentor. The speaker compared the loss of Mandela to the memory of
his mentor and emphasizes that the effect is not just a sense of loss.

Looking at the form of the poem, the speaker used metaphor, since the mentor became so for
it’s death was compared to the death of Mandela. Simile was also used to describe the impending
death of the mentor through the “breath of sparrows. A sparrow used in the poem symbolizes death
according to superstition. Whenever they peek at the window it signifies someone will die. Imagery or
the use of figurative language to create visual representations was also used to describe the tree and
the mentor as he lay on his bed on the said poem.

Meanwhile, tone of the poem was sad for it deals with sorrow and sympathy for those who
were mourning for Mandela and for recalling the mentor’s death. The poem symbolizes the significance
of one’s life in other people’s life. Upon reading it, the readers just know how the speaker was affected
to the death of Mandela because he remembered his mentor but it requires a deeper understanding of
the poem.

From the literary devices that was used it gave more meaning to the poem It is more appealing
and exciting for the readers to know what is behind those words. Readers can also see the importance
or significance of the person when they were taken away from them and they can realize the effect of
losing someone in their life.